K148, The Outright Concours d'Elegance Winner

1913 Leyland S3.30.T type bus

Entered by M A Sutcliffe, MBE,
Dunstable

In 2004 Mike Sutcliffe, the owner of this vehicle, was
awarded the MBE for "services to motor heritage" and his latest and again
winning service is this early motor bus which first went on the road
way back in 1913. There's no doubting that it has been painstakingly
and beautifully restored, or more accurately reconstructed. All that
was found of the original was the chassis and body which were an integral
parts of a chalet bungalow at the time of discovery!

Odd, but not so odd, it has often been the fate of
redundant railway carriages to find their way into the structure of a
bungalow of sorts. This is the first time I've come across a bus which
had met such a fate. A quick look at the
bus will show that it was very much a room-on-wheels with a lot of
resemblence to a shop or pub front. So, someone must have thought it
would make a nice little sitting room in their bungalow.

The correct engine, gearbox, and controls were salvaged
from another vehicle found derelict in a field somewhere in Yorkshire.
The prop shaft and drive had to be made, as the pieces were either missing
or badly damaged. A new radiator was also made from scratch from the
original pattern.

What immediately impresses is the beautiful bodywork.

Four side windows in this woodframed body

Rear view, showing roof top luggage rack

Below are thumbnail photos showing close-ups of parts of K148, and a
photo of the man himself, Mike Sutcliffe. Some of the thumbs will click
to give a larger version of the image. The wheels have solid Dunlop tyres.
The company emblem of the Barnsley & District Electric Traction Company
Ltd. was a steel wheel between the forks of
a magnet with sparks flying. The driver's cab as you might expect is
pretty bare. And the driver's horn was a simple hand-operated pump horn.